Bylaw 200 - Central Committee

Section 1 (Elections)

In even numbered years, two representatives shall be elected from each U.S. Congressional district or State Senate district in the State to serve on the Central Committee for a term of two years or until a new Central Committee is elected. The retiring Central Committee shall determine whether U.S. Congressional districts or State Senate districts shall be employed for electing the next Central Committee not later than 120 days prior to the primary election, and unless otherwise determined shall be the U.S. Congressional district.

A. All Committee members must be members of the Party as defined in Bylaw 100.

B. All Committee members shall be a resident and qualified elector of the district from which they are elected.

C. The top two vote-earners in each race shall be elected. The top vote earner shall be assigned to “Seat A,” the other to “Seat B.”

D. Unless otherwise required by ORC 3517.03 due to the Party attaining major party status, any qualified elector who would otherwise qualify under the other parts of this section may be elected to the Central Committee, regardless of their sex or gender.

Section 2 (If Ballot Access is denied)

In the event the State denies public ballot access as a recognized party, Central Committee elections shall take place for each district, within a time period established by the Central Committee at a time and place agreed upon by the outgoing district representatives and certified to the Central Committee within the district, or if jointly held with another district, within five miles of the border of the district.

A. Elections shall be held in even-numbered years in the same month as the official State Primary Election at a date or dates determined by the Central Committee unless the date period is changed by resolution passed by the Central Committee no later than 120 days prior to the official Primary Election of the State of Ohio.

B. The date of the Election shall be chosen no later than 75 days prior to the official Primary Election of the State of Ohio. Announcement of each District election date, time, and location shall be communicated to the members of the Party in the respective Districts by reasonable and common methods no later than 60 days prior to the election. In the event that provision A of this bylaw is changed by Central Committee Resolution, the date, time, and location of the Election for each district shall be set no later than 75 days prior to the first date on which such elections may be held.

C. Nominations or declarations of intent to run for office shall be received by the Central Committee Secretary no later than 45 days prior to election; the candidates’ names and addresses shall be communicated to the members of the Party by reasonable and common methods no later than 30 days prior to the election.

D. Only members who live in the District shall be eligible to vote for Central Committee members for that District.

E. Elections for Central Committee shall be conducted by secret ballot. The use of mail-in or absentee ballots shall not be denied, provided any such ballots are postmarked no later than five days prior to the election.

F. Election results shall be communicated and forwarded to the Central Committee Secretary no later than five business days after the last day on which elections may be held. Included with the results shall be a list of members who voted at each election. The Central Committee Secretary shall certify and communicate the results to the members of the Party by reasonable and common methods no later than the 10th day following the last day on which elections may be held.

G. If a district has no representation, the LPO State Central Committee Chair is permitted to manage or delegate the management of a district election for the LPO State Central Committee.

H. If the outgoing representatives fail to meet the requirements of Section 2.B., the LPO State Central Committee Chair is permitted to manage or delegate the management of a district election for the LPO State Central Committee.

Section 3 (Central Committee Organization)

Each newly elected Central Committee shall, within fifteen days of certification of the elections, meet and organize itself by the election of a Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary, and such other offices as the Central Committee may determine in accordance with section 3517.04 of the Ohio Revised Code.

A. The Treasurer of the Central Committee may not have served as Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer, or Assistant Treasurer of the Executive Committee during any portion of the preceding Central Committee term and may not hold any of the aforementioned positions concurrently.

Section 4 (Executive Committee Elections)

The Central Committee shall elect an Executive Committee as provided for in Article V of the Constitution of the Party. Such elections shall take place during the 2018 Organizational Meeting of the Central Committee, and thereafter during odd-numbered years, and shall be held at the Central Committee’s first meeting, but no later than March 15th.

A. Nominations for the first ballot of officers of the Executive Committee, along with all supporting documentation, shall be submitted to the Chair of the Central Committee no later than 7 days prior to the Central Committee Organizational Meeting or any subsequent Executive Committee elections.

1. This rule may be overturned for any election with a two-thirds majority of the Central Committee.

B. The Central Committee shall confer upon the Executive Committee all its duties and responsibilities except those powers it retains in accordance of the Party Constitution. The Executive Committee shall have responsibility for and shall be authorized to act for the Central Committee in all things pertaining to the operation, organization, business, and well-being of the Party.

C. The term of any At-Large member of the Executive Committee who fails to retain their Central Committee seat shall end and the At-Large seat be vacant at the call-to- order of the Organizational Meeting of the newly-elected Central Committee. The Central Committee shall fill the vacated seat via election during their Organizational Meeting.

Section 5 (Central Committee Vacancies)

In the event of a vacancy on the Central Committee caused by death, resignation, failure to elect, abdication, or removal from the district from which a committee member was chosen, the vacancy may be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of the Central Committee without regard to gender. (3517.05 of the Ohio Revised Code)

Section 6 (Central Committee Abdication)

Central Committee members are expected to attend all meetings as a representative for their district and can be removed from his or her position due to excessive meeting absences or district residency changes.

A. Any Central Committee member who does not participate in two (2) out of three (3) consecutive meetings, without an excused absence, shall be considered to have abdicated their seat. His or her seat shall be considered vacant and will not count towards quorum. His or her seat may be filled in the regular manner after the conclusion of the second meeting the member has missed. The Chair of the Central Committee shall be responsible for communicating the abdication ruling to the member in question. A Central Committee member who notifies the Chair of the Central Committee of their inability to participate in the meeting prior to the meeting and will be considered excused and their absence shall not be counted as an unexcused absence. A member may only use two (2) unexcused absences per term.

B. Members of the Central Committee are responsible for updating their contact information, including, but not limited to, their residence, mailing address, phone and email address, with the Chair and Secretary of the Central Committee.

C. Any member of the Central Committee who is removed through part A of this section shall be ineligible to sit on the Central Committee through the remainder of their term. Removal by abdication shall be valid grounds for the Party to have an individual removed from the ballot for Central Committee by filing an appropriate protest as provided in the Ohio Revised Code 3501.39.

D. In compliance with ORC 3517.02, a Central Committee member who changes residence outside of their Congressional District must notify the Central Committee Chair and Central Committee Secretary and surrender their seat within thirty (30) days. Any such member would be immediately eligible for consideration to fill any open seat in their new district of residence.

Section 7 (Quorum)

Quorum shall consist of a majority of the filled positions of the Central Committee.

Section 8 (Central Committee Meetings)

The Central Committee shall meet at least twice each year.

A. “Special Meetings” as defined in Robert’s Rules may be called by the Committee Chair or upon petition of one-third of seated Central Committee members. Petition by Central Committee members must be made within a 14-day period and communicated to both the Committee Chair and Secretary by writing or email.

B. All members of the Central Committee must be given no less than a two week notice of each meeting, its agenda of business, and location.

C. The two week notice requirement may be waived in an emergency as defined by the Chair, and the reasons for the emergency shall be included in the meeting minutes. The emergency status is subject to a between-meeting vote using procedures defined by Section E of this Bylaw, or as the first order of business at the emergency meeting.

1. No bylaw change may be considered as an emergency unless that change is needed to comply with a court order or render moot a filed legal challenge.

D. Save in an emergency, meetings of the Central Committee must be held within the State of Ohio.

1. Failure or inability to attend a meeting held outside the State of Ohio, regardless of available alternate methods of attendance, will not be counted against a member with regards to abdication (Bylaw 200, Section 6).

E. The Central Committee may conduct business between meetings provided that established notice and secret ballot requirements are still met.

1. The details of the voting process are defined in the Standard Operating Procedures.

a. Details of the voting process must be made available to members of the Party, the public, or the media upon request.

b. Changes to the process will be announced to members of the Committee through reasonable and common methods within 2 days. Such changes will be subject to challenge and amendment for a period of 10 days following the announcement of such changes. Any change not challenged will be considered accepted and in effect thereafter.

c. Challenges shall be completed using the pre-existing voting process.

d. The Chair may establish a different process for different types of voting held between meetings including, but not limited to, mail voting, email voting, teleconference voting, and web conference voting.

2. All business conducted between meetings will be included in the minutes of the next scheduled, emergency, or “Special Meeting.”

a. For votes cast between meetings that do not require a secret ballot, the minutes will reflect a roll call vote listing to allow for full review of actions taken.

b. Votes requiring a secret ballot appear in the minutes with a logically ordered list of those voting, a separate list of those not voting ordered using the same logical arrangement, and the total of all votes cast.

3. Quorum for votes cast between meetings will be 60% of the Central Committee seats filled on the final day of voting. Votes that fail to meet quorum will automatically be added to the next meeting agenda, regardless of any other notification requirements.

F. The Secretary of the Central Committee will make the meeting minutes available to all members within fourteen days of all meetings.

Section 9 (Electronic Attendance)

A member of any Committee may, at the discretion of the committee, fully participate in the proceedings of a meeting via telephone conference call, video conference, or other means of remote participation. A member so participating shall be counted as part of quorum and shall have all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities as if present, with the exception of elections for officers and replacement of statewide candidates after a primary election as required by section 3513.31 of the Ohio Revised Code.